Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast top list of countries with highest public debt stocks in West Africa
As of half-year 2021, the total public debt stock in West Africa stood at a staggering $164.1 billion. This is according to data obtained from Statista, a leading German markets and consumer data provider.
Without much surprise, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast registered the highest public debts in the region, with $79.5 billion, $21.9 billion and $19.5 billion, respectively.
It’s important to note that between June 10th when this report was published and now, the public debt in West African would most likely have increased significantly, as countries in the region have since continued to borrow.
A total of 15 West African countries were captured in the report. And while Nigeria and Ghana led the list, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau recorded the lowest public debts at $823 million and $381 million, respectively.
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“As of 2021, the total external public debt in West Africa amounted to around 164 billion U.S. dollars. Nigeria and Ghana recorded the highest levels of debt in the region, at approximately 79.54 billion U.S. dollars and 21.91 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. On the other hand, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau registered the lowest values, at 823 million U.S. dollars and 381 million U.S. dollars, respectively,” said a part of the report by Statista.
Note that a public debt stock simply indicates the total amount debts a government owes.
See below the public debts of each of the captured countries in the region.
- Nigeria: $79.5 billion
- Ghana: $21.9 billion
- Ivory Coast: $19.5 billion
- Senegal: $13.7 billion
- Mali: $5.1 billion
- Guinea: $4.8 billion
- Niger: $4.2 billion
- Benin: $3.8 billion
- Burkina Faso: $3.7 billion
- Cape Verde: $1.9 billion
- Sierra Leone: $1.8 billion
- Togo: $1.4 billion
- Liberia: $1.3 billion
- Gambia: $823 million
- Guinea-Bissau: $382 million
